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Accidental deaths decreased among children, teens
Unintentional injuries continue to be the leading cause of death in the United States for those aged 1 to 19 years, according to research published this week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, but the overall rate decreased 29% from 2000 to 2009.
After collecting death certificate data from 50 states and the District of Columbia , the CDC analyzed annual mortality files for deaths among people aged 0 to 19 years. Unintentional injury deaths were categorized as:
- Drowning.
- Falling.
- Fire/burn.
- Motor vehicle traffic-related.
- Other transportation-related.
- Poisoning.
- Suffocation.
According to the CDC, unintentional injury deaths in 2009 accounted for 37% of all deaths among those aged 1 to 19 years, and it is the fifth leading cause of death among infants and newborns. Unintentional infant suffocation death rates increased 54% from 2000 to 2009.
The CDC reported that for every child that dies of unintended injuries, more than 1,000 are treated for nonfatal injuries.
In 2009, an estimated 9,000 children and adolescents died as a result of unintentional injuries. Males had higher death rates than females, CDC researchers wrote, and motor vehicle traffic-related accidents have declined but remain the leading cause of injury deaths.
The poisoning rate among teenagers aged 15 to 19 years nearly doubled, according to the report. The CDC attributes the spike in the poisoning rate to an increase in prescription drug overdoses, such as opioids and other pain medication.
There were significant variations in unintentional injury death rates found among states, CDC researchers found. Mississippi, for example, had an unintentional injury death rate six times the rate of Massachusetts.
“The wide variations in death rates among states suggest that environment, exposure to hazards (eg, vehicle miles traveled, exposure to water settings, urban or rural environment), and differences in public policy might play a role,” the researchers wrote. “In 2009, if the overall national rate had been equal to the lowest state unintentional injury death rate, 5,785 lives would have been saved.”
For additional information about CDC’s data, please visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm. For information on the CDC’s National Action Plan for Child Injury Prevention, visit www.cdc.gov/safechild/nap.
Perspective
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Unintentional injury deaths are preventable. Without fail the annual publication of fatality data is difficult to read. Anyone who has been in practice long enough has had to face the grim task of aiding bereaved families after the loss of a child. The current study is the first from the CDC to look at tends over time in infant, child and adolescent unintentional death rates by mechanism and state. The good news is that the injury death rate decreased 29% from 15.5 to 11.0 per 1000,000 population from 2000 to 2009. Unfortunately this accounted for over 9,000 deaths in 2009.
The current report however, emphasizes areas of real possibilities for improvement. The methods used – 10 year trend data, and breaking down the results by mechanism and state – allow for classic quality improvement analysis and improves the likelihood of success for the 2012 National Action Plan for Child Injury Prevention. Highlighted is the increased incidence of infant suffocation and adolescent drug poisoning deaths thus pointing to areas requiring additional attention and public policy decisions. Declines in motor vehicle traffic-related deaths emphasize the success of programs already in place.
Most impressive is the wide variation in overall death rates among states. The rate for Mississippi is more than six times the rate for Massachusetts. Within the entire data set are other examples of regional variations. As with other variations in health outcomes these facts require explanation and better practice policies. The frequency of unintentional deaths, the success of current and the clear potential for future public health interventions make injury prevention an obligation for all of us. Of particular note is the inclusion in this report of web links to CDC-based intervention programs for patients, families, physicians and community groups. Little room is left for not engaging in the battle.
